I I u 


V ■> 

1 ■a.-TYv- 


^ Our  Mission  in  China 
Faced  the  Terrors  of  War 


Hospital  Flags  above  Mission  Compound  Wall 
at  Yochotu  City 

BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 
REFORMED  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 
FIFTEENTH  AND  RACE  STREETS 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


Captain  and  private  soldier  of  Northern  Army.  Dr.  Hoy  and  Mr.  Owen  with  Red  Cross  badges. 


A Story  of  Present  Interest. 

Allen  B.  Bartholomew. 

There  have  been  critical  days  in  the  his- 
tory of  our  China  Mission,  but  nothing 
to  compare  with  the  harrowing  experi- 
ences of  our  workers  for  the  period  of 
time  extending  from  January  27  to  March  20. 
We  are  certain  that  the  reports  of  the  mission- 
aries about  the  fierce  battles  at  Yochow  City 
have  been  very  tame  in  comparison  with  the 
actual  conditions.  One  thing  is  sure,  the  for- 
eign missionaries  never  exaggerate  in  telling 
of  their  work.  They  need  not  do  so,  for  the 
facts  always  carry  their  own  message  to  the 
hearts  of  the  people. 

Dr.  Beam  assures  is  that  the  marshalling 
of  fifty  thousand  troops  at  Yochow  City, 
and  the  killing  of  many  soldiers,  did  not 
occur  without  the  anticipation  of  our 
workers.  They  knew  this  bloody  exper- 
ience had  to  be  faced,  and  they  did  all  they 
could  to  prepare  so  that  they  might  act  the 
part  of  the  Good  Samaritan.  The  enemy  can 
produce  wounds  and  cause  injury,  but  the 
friend  can  heal  and  restore.  To  see  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  float  over  our  compound  with  the 
Red  Cross  flag  beneath  it,  in  one  of  the  pic- 
tures, should,  send  a thrill  of  joy  through  every 
loyal,  loving  heart.  Nerve-racking  as  the  serv- 
ice must  have  been,  there  is  not  a missionary 
who  regrets  the  experience.  And  they  deserve 
the  lasting  gratitude  of  the  members  of  our 
Church  for  enduring  hardships  as  good  sol- 
diers of  Jesus  Christ. 

For  the  past  year  the  Province  of  Hunan 
has  been  the  scene  of  many  fierce  encounters 
between  the  government  and  the  revolutionists. 
It  is  very  difficult  for  any  forei^er  to  unravel 
the  present  web  of  political  intrigue,  or  to 
estimate  the  real  force  of  the  parties  struggling 
for  power.  That  great  statesman,  John  Hay, 
gave  it  as  his  conviction  that  “the  storm  centre 
of  the  world  would  gradually  pass  from  the 


4 


Our  Mission  in  China. 


Balkans,  from  Constantinople,  from  the  Per- 
sian Gulf,  from  India,  to  China,”  and  he 
further  said,  “whoever  understands  that  mighty 
empire — socially,  politically,  economically,  re- 
ligiously— has  the  key  to  the  world  politics 
for  the  next  five  centuries.”  This  is  m full 
accord  with  a current  writer  who  declares 
that  “the  Chinese  question  is  the  world  ques- 
tion of  the  twentieth  century.”  No  one  can 
study  the  progress  of  the  times  without  a deep- 
ening sense  that  the  event  most  fraught  with 
meaning  for  the  rest  of  the  world  is  the  awak- 
ening of  the  East. 

The  city  of  strategic  importance  in  Hunan 
is  Yochow,  with  a population  of  about 
fifty  thousand.  It  is  situated  on  Tung- 
ting  Lake,  whose  waters  flow  into  the 
Yangtze,  five  miles  distant  from  the  city. 
It  is  tfie  bolt  which  locks  the  water  gate 
of  Hunan,  so  that  no  boat  can  enter  or  leave 
the  province  save  with  the  permission  of 
V'ochow.  It  has  always  been  a military  centre. 
Previous  to  the  Taiping  rebellion  there  was 
kept  here  a great  supply  of  arms — in  the  shape 
of  long  spears  and  tower  muskets  which  the 
Taipings  captured  in  the  closing  days  of  1852, 
and  arming  their  followers  with  these  they 
swept  right  down  to  Nanking,  taking  every 
city  en  route  with  the  first  rush. 

“China,”  said  one  of  the  most  thoughtful 
men  of  that  nation  not  long  ago,  “is  athirst 
for  leaders/’  Her  great  difficulties  at  this 
moment  may  be  traced  to  the  principle  of  “bal- 
ance of  power.”  The  north  and  the  south  are 
in  more  or  less  of  a deadlock.  The  military 
leaders  are  all  about  equal  in  strength,  and  all 
seem  to  be  naturally  jealous  of  their  powers 
and  afraid  of  each  other.  The  Chinese  people 
have  come  to  the  parting  of  the  ways.  They 
are  emerging  from  an  apathetic  past  in  which 
they  have  been  buried  for  hoary  ages,  and  they 
are  manifesting  a desire  to  accept  the  lessons 
of  modern  Christian  civilization.  Two  great 
reforms  have  taken  place  in  China  that  prove 


Faced  the  Terrors  of  IVar. 


5 


them  to  be  one  of  the  most  earnest  and  capable 
races  of  the  world.  That  great  heathen  nation 
has  made  more  progress  in  five  years  against 
her  greatest  national  evil,  opium,  than  America 
has  made  in  a century  against  her  curse, 
liquor.  And  China  has  set  her  face  against 
foot-binding,  the  great  curse  for  women. 

It  is  a significant  fact  that  the  American 
missionaries  in  China  are  among  the  most 
active  forces  working  for  a true  democ- 
racy. One  would  suppose  that  the  sol- 
diers in  their  mad  rage  would  destroy  the 
lives  and  properties  of  missionaries,  but  it  is 
cause  for  devout  gratitude  that  both  armies 
look  upon  them  as  friends,  and  in  many  cases 
they  have  been  used  as  mediators.  It  was  in 
our  compound  at  Lakeside  that  three  thousand 
women  and  children  sought  refuge  during  the 
latter  days  of  January,  and  hundreds  of  sol- 
diers found  a safe  retreat  in  our  buildings  at 
Yochow.  On  March  25,  Mr.  Beck  reports  that 
ten  thousand  found  refuge  in  the  temporary 
sheds  on  the  Yochow  compound,  and  were  fed. 
About  a thousand  made  their  way  to  Lakeside. 
One  of  the  cheering  facts  amid  the  warring 
factions  is  the  widespread  readiness  to  hear 
the  Gospel.  The  missionaries  have  been 
brought  nearer  to  the  life  of  the  people,  and  in 
the  time  of  intense  suffering  their  message  has 
been  more  welcomed  than  in  the  days  of  pros- 
perity. These  are  the  tidings  that  come  to  us 
from  the  field : “The  door  stands  wide  open 
for  evangelization  of  all  kind.  There  is  great 
willingness  to  listen  and  less  opposition  tfian 
ever  before.” 

Will  we  not  see  a new  challenge,  a loud  call 
in  the  bitter  trials  through  which  our  mission- 
aries are  passing  in  these  days?  Never  did 
such  golden  opportunities  present  themselves 
to  our  Church. 


Red  Cross  boys  front  Lakeside.  This  squad  with  Mr.  Owen  made  the  first  excursion  to 

battlefield. 


Faced  the  Terrors  of  IVar. 


7 


AN  EXPLANATION  OF  THE  POLITICAL 
TURMOIL. 

Prof,  Horace  B.  Lequear. 

WHEN  friends  in  the  home  Church 
hear  of  military  operations  or  riots 
endangering  the  lives  and  property 
of  our  China  Mission  at  Yochow 
City  or  Shenchowfu,  many  are  inclined  to 
associate  the  disturbances  with  the  anti- 
foreign  attitude  of  the  Chinese  in  the  past. 
However,  the  constant  danger,  to  mission- 
aries from  anti-foreign  propaganda  largely 
ended  with  the  crisis  of  1900,  when  the  Chinese 
government  tried  to  drive  all  foreigners  out 
and  failed  so  dismally  that  the  most  ignorant 
and  bigoted  of  the  Chinese  officials  and  upper 
classes  saw  that  they  were  on  the  wrong  track 
if  China  was  to  amount  to  anything  in  the 
modern  world. 

From  1900  to  1911  Christian  missionaries 
were  tolerated  and  even  favored  by  many  in 
authority  both  civil  and  military.  In  1911  the 
Manchu  dynasty  was  overthrown  by  those  who 
wished  to  make  China  a republic.  The  rebel- 
lion started  in  Hankow  about  one  hundred 
miles  down  the  Yangtse  River  from  Yochow 
City  and  though  we  at  Yochow  City  and 
Shenchowfu  were  very  uneasy  for  a few 
months,  yet  the  rebellion  was  quickly  success- 
ful, and  the  Republic  of  China  was  estab- 
lished. 

To  some,  the  establishment  of  the  republic 
meant  the  end  of  internal  political  troubles; 
but  to  others  who  remembered  the  history  of 
such  movements  in  other  nations  in  the  past 
it  meant  the  beginning  of  a great  political 
strupele  between  the  conservative  and  the  pro- 
gressive elements  among  the  Chinese  people, 
which  would  end  only  when  a republican  gov- 
ernment can  be  established  on  more  stable 
foundations. 

The  old  official  class  was  still  a powerful 
influence  in  Chinese  affairs.  Only  five  per 


Nearly  a thousand  women  and  children  found  shelter  and  food  in  these  mat  houses  on  our 

Mission  Compound. 


Faced  the  Terrors  of  IVar. 


9 


cent,  of  the  men  of  China  and  perhaps  only 
one  per  cent,  of  the  women  could  read  and 
write.  Newspapers  were  few  and  usually  very 
poorly  edited,  partly  because  they  were  of  very 
limited  circulation.  Roads  were  poor  and 
merely  foot  paths  over  a great  part  of  China. 
Few  railroads  were  built.  Hence  travel  and 
communication  were  very  slow.  These  stub- 
born facts,  together  with  the  hold  the  old 
official  class  had  on  the  people  because  they 
were  the  ones  who  could  read  and  explain  the 
only  literature  China  had,  were  and  are  to  this 
day  great  stumbling  blocks  to  the  growth  of 
true  democracy  among  this  great  people  of 
four  hundred  millions. 

Since  the  revolution  in  1911  two  attempts 
have  been  made  to  set  up  a monarchy  again. 
In  1913  Yuan  Shi  Kai,  the  temporary  presi- 
dent, attempted  to  make  himself  emperor  and 
establish  a new  dynasty.  This  aroused  the 
republicans  all  over  the  land  of  China  and 
again  there  was  civil  war  which  ended  within 
the  year  because  of  the  death  of  Yuan. 

In  1916  an  attempt  was  made  to  re-establish 
the  Manchu  dynasty,  dethroned  in  1911.  This 
also  ended  in  speedy  failure,  but  not  before 
we  had  some  more  civil  war. 

All  this  time  a parliament  was  struggling 
along  trying  to  maintain  the  republic,  but  lack- 
ing knowledge  and  experience  in  political  mat- 
ters that  are  so  familiar  to  Americans,  they 
fell  into  factions  and  sectionalism  and  hope- 
less tangles. 

The  present  political  turmoil  and  rioting  at 
Yochow  is  a natural  product  of  such  condi- 
tions and  centers  at  Yochow  City  at  present, 
because  it  is  the  meeting  point  between  north 
and  south,  east  and  west,  being  on  the  great 
Yangste  River  which  flows  from  west  to  east, 
and  on  the  one  railroad  between  north  and 
south. 

Though  these  events  make  life  harder  for 
the  missionary,  yet  they  seem  to  help  rather 
than  hinder  tfie  growth  of  the  Kingdom  of 


10 


Our  Mission  in  China. 


Northern  Soldier. 

The  northern  men  are  all  well  pro- 
vided with  clothes  and  everything  that 
made  for  comfort,  and  they  are  mostly 
big,  husky-looking  men,  large  framed 
and  very  “tough”  looking. 


Faced  the  Terrors  of  War. 


11 


God  in  China.  This  is  because  of  the  part 
the  missionaries  and  missionary  institutions 
play  as  a place  of  refuge  and  advice  and  com- 
fort to  this  great  people  in  the  midst  of  their 
own  troubles.  This  turbulent  life  is  more  hope- 
ful than  the  dead  silence  of  bygone  years. 


PREPARATIONS  MADE  FOR  THE  FATAL 
CLASH. 

Dr.  J.  Albert  Beam. 

IN  anticipation  of  what  seemed  an  inevitable 
clash  between  the  northern  and  southern 
forces  in  the  region  around  about  this  city, 
the  local  Red  Cross  Society,  under  the  lead- 
ership of  Mr.  Heinrichsohn,  began  active  prepar- 
ation to  care  for  the  men  injured  in  battle  and 
for  those  who  would  be  made  homeless  by  the 
military  operations  here  and  in  the  neighboring 
community.  The  organization  was  perfected 
and  contributions  secured;  Extra  wooden  beds 
were  placed  in  our  hospital  and  three  addi- 
tional buildings  were  secured  for  us  as  emerg- 
ency hospitals.  In  these,  alterations  of  various 
sorts  had  to  be  made.  The  floors  of  one  had 
to  be  strengthened  by  large  timbers  to  make 
them  safe  as  hospital  wards;  narrow  stairways 
were  replaced  by  wide  ones  to  make  it  possi- 
ble to  carry  patients  up  and  down.  In  another, 
the  large  combination  guild  hall,  temple  and 
theatre  just  across  the  street  from  our  com- 
pound, long  galleries  or  balconies  were  en- 
closed by  straw  mats  and  broad  stairways 
built.  Then  rough  wooden  beds  were  con- 
structed, several  hundred  of  them,  and  pro- 
vided with  rice  straw  in  place  of  regular  bed 
ticks.  Metal  chart  holders,  bed  pans,  tincups, 
lamps,  charcoal  burners,  and  many  other  things 
were  thought  of  and  provided.  Dressing  rooms 
were  fitted  up  and  large  quantities  of  gauze 
and  bandage  material  were  purchased  locally 
and  prepared  for  use  by  the  Mission  hospital 
staff  of  nurses,  convalescents,  both  men  and 


12 


Our  Mission  in  China. 


Southern  Soldier. 

The  southerners  are  little  brown  men, 
all  skin  and  bone,  living,  and  full  of  fiery 
enthusiasm  and  vigor.  They  wore 
sandals,  huge  bandages,  and  enormous 
bamboo  hats  which  they  used  as  shields 
and  helmets. 


Faced  the  Terrors  of  War. 


13 


women.  Girls  in  the  school,  teachers  and 
other  ladies  of  the  Mission  aided  in  preparing 
materials  for  dressings.  Extra  supplies  of 
drugs  were  gotten  up  from  Hankow  and 
Shanghai,  and  several  physicians  were  em- 
ployed to  assist  in  caring  for  these  hospitals. 

Of  course  Red  Cross  patients  have  to  eat, 
so  generous  sized  kitchens  were  built;  coal, 
coke  and  fire  wood  were  purchased  in  quantity 
and  many  bushels  of  rice  stored  away  to  meet 
the  demands  of  several  hundred  patients  for 
an  indefinite  time.  Cases  of  tinned  milk,  salt 
and  other  things  used  in  preparing  food  were 
included  in  the  preparations. 

Then  it  was  remembered  that  the  beautiful 
fall  weather  was  likely  to  give  way  any  time 
without  notice  to  the  nasty,  chilly  rainy  season 
which  is  a part  of  every  winter  here,  so  several 
hundred  comforters  were  made  by  local  tailors. 

Since  doctors  alone  cannot  run  hospitals,  a 
couple  dozen  of  new  men  were  taken  into  our 
hospital  to  receive  some  instruction  in  the 
care  of  patients.  At  the  Lakeside  School  some 
twenty-four  students  volunteered  for  first  aid 
work  on  the  field.  They  were  given  a course 
of  training  in  first  aid  to  injured  soldiers.  For 
all  these  helpers  regulation  uniforms  as  pre- 
scribed by  the  National  Chinese  Red  Cross  So- 
ciety were  provided.  Twenty  stretchers  were 
designed  and  constructed  locally.  Several  dozen 
picks  and  shovels  were  made  in  order  that  the 
dead  might  be  properly  buried. 

The  Red  Cross  Society  and  the  Chrisfian 
men  of  the  community  did  not  forget  that  in 
time  of  war  many  people  are  driven  from  their 
homes.  In  preparation  for  such  an  event  large 
temporary  shelters  were  erected  on  the  Mis- 
sion compound,  a kitchen  of  large  capacity 
provided  and  much  rice  stored  awSiy. 

In  speaking  of  the  work  done  during  these 
two,  now  nearly  three  weeks,  we  must  not 
overlook  the  faithful  work  done  by  the  Chris- 
tian Chinese.  In  the  hospitals  and  in  the 
refuge  work  they  rendered  valiant  service.  In 


14 


Our  Mission  in  China. 


going  out  to  search  for  injured  men  and  in 
bringing  them  in  the  boys  from  Lakeside  re- 
flected much  honor  upon  themselves  and  the 
school.  A number  of  the  non-Christian  men 
of  the  city  also  gave  much  time  and  energy 
to  the  work  we  have  had  in  hand. 

These  have  been  dark  days,  and  the  future 
is  not  bright,  but  we  believe  God  has  been  with 
us  and  we  can  go  on  with  our  task  in  full  con- 
fidence that  no  matter  what  may  happen  to  us, 
the  cause  we  represent  will  be  advanced,  and 
out  of  all  this  confusion  He  will  take  honor 
upon  Himself. 

FIRE,  LOOTING,  DEATH. 

Dr.  William  E.  Hoy. 

Last  Sunday  morning,  January  27,  1918, 
I heard  the  voice  of  Mr.  Owen  call  to 
me,  “Yochow  is  burning.”  My  dressing 
was  done  in  record  time.  The  lurid 
flames  painted  the  sky  above  the  city  with  the 
colors  of  a miniature  hell  into  which  the  pride 
of  the  place  was  falling.  There  must  be  ashes 
and  mourning  in  the  place  of  prosperity  and 
laughter.  “War  is  Hell.”  Then  the  cutting 
questions,  What  of  the  missionaries,  the  Chi- 
nese Christians,  our  own  Gertrude,  our  chapels, 
our  hospital,  our  schools?  A thousand  dag- 
gers of  solicitude  rent  the  heart  in  twain.  After 
a hurried  breakfast,  Mr.  Owen  and  I went  to- 
wards the  scenes  of  devastation  and  desola- 
tion. As  soon  as  we  passed  around  the  foot 
of  the  first  hill,  we  saw  that  our  large  Mission 
lot  was  intact.  This  afforded  us  some  relief 
as  far  as  the  matter  of  property  was  concern- 
ed ; but  we  still  had  the  bigger  questions  be- 
fore us — What  of  our  missionaries? 

I can  never  describe  what  a burden  rolled 
off  my  mind  when  we  learned  upon  our  arrival 
at  the  Mission  that  no  personal  harm  had  come 
nigh  unto  our  dear  people.  However,  I will 
allow  some  of  them  to  write  you  that  dark 
night  of  suspense.  Truly  God  was  with  them 
and  delivered  them. 


Faced  the  Terrors  of  War. 


15 


When  it  became  evident  to  the  Northern 
troops  that  they  must  evacuate  they  lost  no 
time  in  looting  and  burning  the  main  part  of 
the  business  quarters  of  Yochow  City.  There 
were  also  abominable  acts  of  cruelty  commit- 
ted. In  some  instances,  it  is  said,  people  were 
locked  in  their  houses  and  compelled  to  perish 
by  fire.  Some  of  the  Red  Cross  men  and 
several  of  our  missionaries  tried  to  fight  the 
fire;  but  they  were  driven  away  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet.  A few  of  the  Chinese  mem- 
bers of  the  Red  Cross  were  shot  at.  Under 
such  circumstances,  there  could  be  no  organ- 
ized effort  made  to  save  life  and  property. 

I returned  home  in  the  afternoon  under  mil- 
itary escort  by  southern  soldiers  and  a large 
Red  Cross  flag;  and  twice  I heard  the  bullets 
whistle  over  me.  I asked  the  soldiers  what 
that  meant.  They  said  it  was  done  in  fun,  to 
see  whether  those  soldiers  yonder  could  hit 
iny  flag!  When  I protested  they  shouted  to 
the  other  soldiers  to  cease  firing  at  this  flag. 
Yesterday  morning  I again  paid  an  early  visit 
to  Yochow  City,  and  found  that  they  had  had 
an  easier  night  than  the  night  before.  How- 
ever, they  told  me  of  a number  of  serious  dan- 
gers that  had  happily  been  averted.  The  place 
was  better  guarded.  I went  through  all  our 
Red  Cross  Hospitals  and  spoke  with  many  of 
the  wounded  soldiers,  now  of  both  armies.  It 
was  heart-rending  to  see  severely  wounded 
northern  soldiers  roll  themselves  from  the  beds, 
prostrate  themselves  before  me,  and  cry  out, 
“Old  Pastor,  save  us.”  This  because  southern 
soldiers  had  forcibly  entered  some  of  the  wards 
and  shot  dead  some  of  the  northern  wounded. 
.\11  I could  do  was  to  assure  them  that  affairs 
wefe  growing  better.  During  this  visit  to  the 
Red  Cross  Hospitals,  I realized  most  deeply 
what  Christlike  work  the  doctors,  nurses,  and 
the'  Red  Cross  people  are  doing.  What  are 
danger  and  bullets  to  them  in  their  labors  of 
love? 


16 


Our  Mission  in  China. 


The  old  man,  a merchant  who  met  with 
hard  usage  at  the  hands  of  soldiers,  re- 
mains at  the  Guild  Hall  in  the  capacity  of 
a helper. 

Mr.  Djang  Dzi  Siu,  Lakeside  School 
graduate,  and  evangelist,  here  in  the 
capacity  of  Red  Cross  officer. 


Faced  the  Terrors  of  fVar. 


17 


THRELLING  EVENTS  OF  THE  TEEEIBLE 
ENCOUNTER. 

Mrs.  F.  Earl  Heinilchsoliii. 

For  several  weeks  after  these  preparations 
were  made,  military  affairs  seemed  to  be 
at  a standstill.  There  was  talk  of  an 
armistice  and  we  hoped  that  an  under- 
standing could  be  reached  between  the  warring 
factions  which  would  render  all  these  prepara- 
tions unnecessary. 

However,  there  were  persistent  rumors  that 
the  south  was  planning  an  attack,  and  on  Wed- 
nesday, January  23,  the  attack  came.  The 
fighting  began  at  several  different  points  locat- 
ed from  15  to  20  miles  away  from  Yochow. 
At  four  o’clock  that  afternoon  the  first  wound- 
ed were  brought  into  our  hospital.  These 
wounded  were  northerners,  of  course.  Thurs- 
day the  fighting  continued.  More  northerners 
wounded  and  reports  that  the  northerners  were 
being  beaten  and  driven  back.  On  Thursday 
night  some  half  dozen  fires  were  started  at 
different  points  in  our  city  by  southern  spiies 
who  were  concealed  here.  In  spite  of  the  high 
wind  which  was  prevailing  that  night,  all  of 
these  fires  were  nipped  in  the  bud,  except  one 
which  n^rew  to  rather  large  dimensions,  and  be- 
fore it  was  finally  conquered,  about  a half 
dozen  buildings  were  burned. 

On  Friday  wounded  continued  to  pour  stead- 
ily in,  and  there  were  rumors  that  the  south- 
erners would  capture  Yochow  next  day.  These 
rumors  caused  men,  women  and  children  in 
large  numbers,  to  come  to  our  compound  to 
take  advantage  of  the  refuges  which  had  been 
provided.  However,  Saturday  passed  without 
our  seeing  any  southern  troops  here.  We  still 
had  a thousand  or  so  northern  soldiers  in 
town.  On  Saturday  night  some  of  these 
wanted  to  flee  to  Hankow,  but  were  prevented 
by  the  general  in  command.  As  a result  they 
nmtinied.  About  midnight  firing  began  in  the 
streets,  and  for  a while  there  was  a great 


18 


Our  Mission  in  China. 


roaring  of  cannon  and  cracking  of  bullets.  It 
seemed  the  northerners  were  trying  to  fire  off 
as  much  ammunition  as  possible  to  keep  it 
from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  southerners. 

After  an  hour  or  so  of  this  terrific  firing, 
it  practically  all  ceased  and  we  were  hoping 
that  the  trouble  was  over  for  the  night.  Sud- 
denly there  was  a cry  of  fire,  and  soon  the 
heavens  were  lit  up  with  tremendous  flames. 
The  unruly  northern  soldiers,  when  they 
learned  that  they  must  give  up  the  city,  de- 
cided on  a campaign  of  burning  and  looting 
before  they  left.  They  first  robbed  one  of 
the  largest  silver  shops  on  the  principal  street, 
then  poured  kerosene  about  in  the  building  and 
set  fire  to  it.  All  night  the  fire  raged  along 
the  main  street.  Northern  soldiers  with  fixed 
bayonets  stood  guard  over  it  and  would  allow 
no  one  to  approach  to  try  to  put  it  out.  So  it 
raged  on  for  hours.  Among  the  many  build- 
ings burned  was  our  principal  street  chapel. 

About  4 A.  M.  we  heard  that  a band  of 
southerners  were  entering  the  city.  There 
were  only  forty  or  fifty  men  in  the  first  band, 
but  they  came  with  a great  rush  and  firing  of 
rifles.  The  northern  troops  who  were  guard- 
ing the  fire  ran  away,  and  at  once  our  Red 
Cross  boys — who  had  been  driven  away  when 
they  tried  to  help  before — organized  a fire  bri- 
gade with  such  good  success  that  in  an  hour 
or  two  they  had  the  flames  under  control. 

It  seems  that  this  handful  of  southerners 
actually  put  all  of  our  northerners  to  flight 
and  we  thought  that  the  worst  of  our  troubles 
would  now  be  over,  for  Hunan  is  southern  in 
its  sympathy  and  there  were  Hunan  troops 
among  those  who  were  coming  to  occupy  the 
city.  So  the  people  of  Yochow  welcomed  the 
new  comers  with  open  arms.  Fire  crackers 
galore  were  put  off  along  the  way  as  this  vic- 
torious southern  army  continued  to  pour  into 
the  place  all  day  Sunday.  People  ran  after 
them  with  boxes  of  cigarettes  and  sweetmeats, 


Faced  the  Terrors  of  War. 


19 


and  tubs  of  tea  were  placed  along  the  street 
that  they  might  refresh  themselves. 

In  the  afternoon  of  this  exciting  Sunday,  a 
number  of  us  were  on  the  upper  veranda  of 
the  hospital  watching  the  steady  stream  of  sol- 
diers coming  up  the  street.  Queer  looking 
soldiers  they  were,  no  uniforms,  and  for  head 
coverings  there  were  straw  hats,  pith  hats,  felt 
hats,  fur  caps,  turbans,  old  military  caps  and 
almost  every  conceivable  sort  of  headgear. 
Most  of  them  wore  straw  sandals.  All  were 
provided  with  well-filled  cartridge  belts  and 
carried  modern  rifles.  Slung  on  their  backs 
were  large  round  bamboo  rain  hats,  which,  we 
were  told,  they  use  for  shields.  Many  of  them 
were  armed  with  old  fashioned  looking  swords 
and  knives.  A few  carried  brass  trumpets, 
as  long  as  themselves.  Their  outfit  was  quaint, 
but  their  faces  were  the  faces  of  robbers  and 
murderers.  And  such  they  proved  to  be — at 
least  the  larger  part  of  them. 

It  seems  a large  portion  of  this  army  is 
made  up  of  Kwangsi  bandits.  As  the  entering 
troops  came  up  one  side  of  the  street,  a steady 
stream  of  the  same  kind  of  soldiers  were  pass- 
ing down  the  other  side  of  the  street.  These 
latter  were  heavily  laden.  They  had  bundles 
of  bedding,  garments,  shoes,  umbrellas,  rolls 
of  cloth  and  of  silk,  clocks,  hams,  bottles  of 
wine,  sacks  of  flour,  and  all  sorts  of  things. 
.\t  first  we  thought  that  the  people  were  giv- 
ing them  presents.  Then  we  concluded  that 
they  had  picked  up  loot  that  the  northerners 
had  dropped,  but  we  finally  learned  to  our 
amazement,  that  these  troops  were  looting 
shops  and  houses  much  more  ruthlessly  and 
thoroughly  than  the  northerners  had  done. 

This  was  only  the  beginning  of  a reign  of 
terror  such  as  T hope  I may  never  witness 
again.  About  50.000  troops  arrived  that  day. 
Soon  we  heard  that  bands  of  them  were  try- 
ing to  enter  our  Red  Cross  hospitals  for  the 
purpose  of  killing  the  wounded  nortliern  sol- 
diers. Twice  on  Sunday,  such  bands  were 


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Refuge  Sheds  on  our  Mission  Compound. 


Paced  the  Terrors  of  War. 


21 


driven  out  without  their  succeeding  and  carry- 
ing out  their  murderous  plans.  About  eight 
o’clock  in  the  evening,  a messenger  came  run- 
ning to  say  that  again  some  soldiers  had  en- 
tered one  of  the  hospitals,  meaning  to  kill  the 
patients.  Karl  together  with  Drs.  Adams  and 
Young  (the  latter  a Red  Cross  doctor)  all  ran 
over  to  save  the  poor  fellows.  They  were  met 
at  the  door  by  men  with  fixed  bayonets.  These 
weapons  were  pointed  at  their  breasts  and  our 
men  were  told  they  would  be  run  through  if 
they  came  a step  farther.  So  they  were  com- 
pelled to  stay  outside  while  these  fiends  did 
their  awful  work  within.  I cannot  find  out 
how  many  were  killed  before  they  were  driven 
off,  at  least  five  or  six,  probably  more.  Some 
of  the  patients  were  bound  and  left  with  the 
assurance  that  the  wretches  would  come  back 
later  and  kill  them.  Is  it  any  wonder  that 
two  of  the  wounded  northerners  have  gone 
insane  from  fright? 

About  ten  o’clock  that  awful  Sunday  night, 
fire  again  broke  out  in  the  main  part  of  the 
town,  kindled  this  time,  we  were  told,  by  the 
southerners.  Soon  it  was  raging  more  fiercely 
than  the  night  before,  for  that  night  there  had 
been  no  wind,  while  on  Sunday  night  there 
was  quite  a high  wind.  We  were  so  busy  pro- 
tecting our  compound  and  looking  after  the 
wounded,  that  we  could  not  spare  anyone  to 
go  and  fight  the  fire,  and  the  people  of  the 
town  did  not  make  a great  effort  to  do  so, 
they  seemed  to  have  lost  their  heads  entirely. 
So  all  night  we  could  see  the  flames  raging. 

About  midnight  a panic  occurred  among  the 
thousand  women  and  children  in  our  mat 
sheds.  They  had  somehow  heard  that  the  sol- 
diers had  made  threat  to  burn  the  place  so 
they  all  wanted  to  leave.  They  were  finally 
persuaded  to  go  into  the  church  to  spend  the 
night.  They  moved  in  comparatively  good 
order.  All  this  time  there  was  terrible  crack- 
ing of  rifles  and  rattling  of  rnachine  guns. 
The  soldiers  seemed  to  be  firing  just  to  ter- 


IVen  Miao" — Confucian  Temple.  Emergency  Hospital  for  Southern  Soldiers. 


Faced  the  Terrors  of  War. 


23 


rorize  the  people  and  the  firing,  as  well  as  the 
wholesale  robbing,  were  kept  up  until  Monday 
afternoon.  One  of  the  victims  of  the  street 
shooting,  a girl  shot  through  the  chest,  was 
brought  into  the  hospital  where  she  died.  Two 
little  girl  babies  were  born  in  the  woman’s 
hospital  during  the  excitement  of  the  night. 

To  add  to  our  personal  anxieties,  two  of 
our  servants,  the  cook  and  house  boy — are 
northerners,  and  live  nearby  with  their  wives 
and  families.  We  had  to  take  them  all  into 
our  house  on  Sunday  and  they  are  still  here. 
There  are  besides  at  least  a dozen  other 
Chinese  living  in  our  basement. 

These  soldiers  are  not  at  all  bad.  The 
guard  of  forty  who  are  stationed  about  our 
compound,  seem  to  be  excellent  soldiers  and 
are  guarding  us  faithfully.  With  such  a rab- 
ble as  we  have  had  on  the  premises,  it  is  really 
remarkable  how  orderly  the  people  are,  and 
how  little  thieving  we  have  had.  We  have 
had  the  compound  policed  by  boys  in  Red 
Cross  uniforms.  T^he  school  girls  have  be- 
haved so  well — they  ’have  been  very  quiet  and 
obedient.  Many  of  these  girls  and  most  of 
our  church  members  have  had  their  homes 
robbed  or  burned  or  both. 

One  of  the  most  alarming  features  about 
these  southern  soldiers  is  their  indifference  to 
— I might  almost  say  contempt  for — the  Red 
Cross  flag.  It  has  afforded  very  little  protec- 
tion to  our  Red  Cross  workers — they  have  been 
shot  at.  and  have  had  northern  wounded  taken 
away  from  them  and  put  to  death.  They  have 
certainly  shown  great  bravery. 

The  story  of  the  work  and  experience  in 
the  hosnitals  would  fill  pages.  There  are  be- 
tween three  and  four  hundred  wounded  being 
taken  care  of.  Drs.  Adams  and  Beam,  several 
Chineses  doctors.  Misses  Traub  and  Myers, 
and  a lot  of  Chinese  nurses  and  helpers  are 
kept  busy  day  and  night.  Our  single  ladies 
have  been  helping  a great  deal  in  the  hospitals. 
For  several  days,  squads  of  Lakeside  Red 


Changsha  Guild  Hall — One  of  the  Emergency  Hospitals  for  Northern  Soldiers. 


Facfd  the  Terrors  of  War. 


25 


Cross  boys  have  been  burying  the  dead,  who 
are  lying  about  the  streets  and  in  the  houses. 

The  telegraph  instruments  and  wires  have 
been  destroyed,  and  we  do  not  know  what 
versions  of  the  affair  have  found  their  way 
down  river,  but  I hope  no  exaggerated  reports 
have  reached  you  people  at  home  and  made 
you  anxious.  I hope  I may  never  have  to 
live  through  another  such  experience,  though 
at  the  same  time  I realize  that  things  could 
have  been  much  worse. 


SOLDIERS  FORCE  THEIR  WAY  INTO  THE 
WOMAN’S  HOSPITAL. 

Miss  Alice  E.  Traub. 

During  these  three  busy  weeks  in  the 
men’s  hospital,  we  were  also  very  busy 
in  the  women’s  hospital.  We  had  two 
abdominal  operations — the  first  in  the 
history  of  our  hospital.  Neither  of  these  two 
patients  has  had  a temperature,  and  they  are  in 
good  condition  at  the  end  of  the  first  week. 

The  nights  of  January  26,  27  and  28  are 
never  to  be  forgotten.  The  night  of  the  26th, 
the  southern  troops  were  expected  to  arrive 
and  take  Yochow.  The  northern  troops,  prep- 
aratory to  leaving,  looted  most  of  the  big 
shops  of  the  city,  and  set  them  on  fire.  All 
night  and  part  of  the  next  day  (Sunday),  the 
burning  continued.  The  women  and  children 
patients  (fifteen  in  all)  were  dressed,  ready 
to  move  if  the  fire  came  close  enough  to  en- 
danger our  compound.  On  Sunday  morning 
the  first  southerners  reached  the  city.  From 
our  windows  we  watched  the  fighting,  and 
saw  the  northerners  retreating.  We  continu- 
ally heard  bullets  whizzing  through  the  air, 
sometimes  landing  on  our  roofs. 

Everyone  expected  peace  and  quiet  after  the 
southerners  took  possession  of  the  place,  but 
alas,  these  troops  were  sent  into  Yochow  with- 
out any  responsible  officers,  and  given  permis- 


Emergency  Hospital  Staff. 

Miss  Firor,  Miss  Myers,  Dr.  Adams,  Miss  Traub,  Mr.  Heinrichsohn  in  Red  Cross  Uniform, 
Miss  Ammerman.  Dr.  Young,  Miss  Ciertriule  Hoy  and  Dr,  lao. 


Faced  the  Terrors  of  War. 


27 


sion  to  do  as  they  pleased  here.  They  claimed 
that  they  had  heard  rumors  of  Yochow’s  dis- 
loyalty to  the  south,  and  that  therefore  the 
city  must  be  punished.  So  these  troops  had 
barely  arrived  before  they  began  looting,  as 
well  as  searching  out  and  killing  any  northern 
soldiers  who  might  be  remaining  in  hiding 
here. 

While  I was  at  supper,  a nurse  came  run- 
ning to  tell  me  that  (he  soldiers  had  forced 
ibeir  way  into  the  woman’s  hospital  One  of 
the  day  school  teachers  happened  to  be  there 
at  the  time  visiting  his  wife,  who  had  been 
confined  in  the  hospital.  When  he  told  them 
what  place  it  was,  they  left.  About  an  hour 
later,  I went  over  to  close  up  the  place  as 
securely  as  I could  for  the  night,  and  while 
I was  there  the  soldiers  came  a second  time. 
This  time  they  were  not  so  easily  put  off.  So 
I appeared  upon  the  scene  and  told  them  that 
the  place  was  a woman’s  hospital.  Upon  this 
they  left  again.  I decided  that  it  would  be 
best  for  me  to  sleep  in  the  hospital.  As  I 
was  nearly  dead  for  sleen  I retired  early,  but 
sleep  was  out  of  the  question.  Scarcely  had 
1 closed  my  eyes  when  there  was  a bang  upon 
the  door.  We  remained  perfectly  quiet,  and 
the  unwelcome  visitors  left. 

Very  soon  after  this  Dr.  Yao  brought  in  a 
woman  already  in  labor.  Before  this  babv 
vyas  born,  another  woman  in  a similar  condi- 
tion was  brought  in.  Baby  No.  1 was  born 
at  11.45  P.  M.,  and  Baby  No.  2 was  ushered 
into  the  world  at  3.15  A.  M.  This  is  the  first 
time  we  have  had  two  babies  born  in  one 
night.  While  these  two  children  were  being 
brought  into  the  world,  the  soul  of  another 
patient — a girl  who  had  been  shot  in  the  chest 
by  a stray  bullet  the  morning  before — passed 
into  the  beyond. 

During  all  of  this  night  fire  was  also  raging, 
and  again  the  patients  were  clothed,  ready  to 
he  moved  at  a moment’s  notice.  'The  fire  was 
finally  extinguished,  but  not  until  after  the 


Wounded  Soldiers  on  Stretchers  (carried  by  Southern  Soldiers)  pausing  before  Registration 

Office  of  Red  Cross  Hospitals. 


Faced  the  Terrors  ef  War. 


29 


entire  business  portion  of  the  city  had  been 
Durned.  Fortunately  the  fire  never  reached 
our  compound.  On  Monday,  the  28th,  the 
compound  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Mission  was 
looted,  and  almost  everything  that  could  not 
be  carried  away  was  destroyed. 

All  day  Monday  we  were  busy  operating. 
We  had  not  time  to  be  tired  or  sleepy  or  even 
to  think  of  our  troubles.  When  Monday  even- 
ing came  most  of  us  feared  that  our  time 
had  come  to  be  visited  by  these  robber  sol- 
diers, and  we  feared  that  we  would  be  sitting, 
homeless,  out  somewhere  on  the  hills  the  next 
morning.  But  our  Heavenly  Father  willed 
otherwise.  By  11  o’clock  P.  M.  things  had 
quieted  down  very  much,  and  most  of  us  got 
some  sleep  for  the  first  time  for  several 
nights. 

THE  PART  OF  THE  HOSPITAL  IN  WAR. 

Dr.  William  F.  Adams. 

The  Medical  Department  has  been  having 
some  interesting  times  during  the  past 
two  months.  The  rush  began  on  Jan- 
uary 26th.  The  wounded  northerners 
came  crowding  in,  and  we  were  operating  until 
after  midnight ; then  we  had  to  guard  the  gate 
while  refugees  of  all  kinds  flocked  past  and 
tried  to  obtain  entrance  to  our  compound;  but 
we  passed  them  on  to  the  “Ladies’  Aid  So- 
ciety !’’  The  shelter  for  the  women  and  chil- 
dren was  arranged  for  in  a vacant  lot  belong- 
ing to  the  Hospital,  where  mat  sheds  were 
erected  in  readiness  for  the  expected  trouble; 
and  other  sheds  were  put  up  for  the  men  in  a 
separate  part  of  the  compound.  We  thought 
w’e  had  a crowd  that  time — about  three  thou> 
sand — but  later  on,  when  the  southerners  re- 
treated after  having  occupied  the  city,  we  had 
practically  the  whole  city  crowded  into  our 
compound  for  three  days;  then  we  knew  what 
it  really  was  to  have  "company.”  Some  esti- 
mated that  there  were  twenty  thousand,  some 


Surgical  Ward,  Mission  Hospital.  Operating  on  a Southern  Soldier.  Miss  Traub,  Dr.  lao, 

Dr.  Young. 


Faced  the  Terrors  of  War. 


31 


ten,  but  any  way  we  were  “full  up,”  and  glad 
when  the  northerners  took  possession  and 
things  settled  so  that  they  could  leave.  They 
were  afraid  to  leave,  but  the  Lord  helped  us 
out  then  by  sending  a big  storm,  which  sent 
them  scurrying  for  their  homes.  He  had  help- 
ed them  by  giving  us  Ipvely  weather  all  the 
time  while  the  danger  lasted,  and  it  is  wonder- 
ful in  how  many  ways  He  has  signally  shown 
His  care  of  us  during  these  strenuous  days. 

VVe  have  had  over  thirteen  hundred  cases  in 
the  Hospital  during  these  two  months,  mostly 
wounded  soldiers,  but  many  civilians  wounded, 
both  men  and  women  and  children.  Three 
other  hospitals  were  provided  for  by  the  Red 
Cross  Society,  to  accommodate  the  crowds. 
Even  then  we  had  to  put  the  beds  close  to- 
gether and  then  place  the  wounded  upon  straw 
strewn  on  the  floors.  As  soon  as  the  first  rush 
was  over  and  the  danger  of  us  being  looted 
passed  away,  we  tried  to  “clean  up”  and  get 
rid  of  the  loose  straw  and  have  proper  beds 
set  up;  but  it  has  been  a tremendous  rush  all 
the  time.  There  were  some  remarkable  escapes, 
and  unexpected  recoveries ; for  example,  one 
man  was  shot  through  the  back  and  the  bullet 
came  out  just  below  the  apex  of  the  heart — the 
man,  perhaps,  had  his  “heart  in  his  mouth,” 
certainly  a good  place  for  it  just  then;  but  it 
must  have  been  well  “contracted”  to  escape 
the  track  of  that  bullet.  The  abdominal  cases 
were,  of  course,  the  worst,  but  even  of  th’ese 
we  have  had  some  very  notable  recoveries;  also 
several  interesting  recoveries  where  the  bullets 
passed  through  the  brain.  Two  men  we  have, 
also,  who  are  alive  and  well,  when  they  are 
supposed  to  be  dead,  having  been  executed. 
But  in  these  instances  the  soldiers  did  not  suc- 
ceed with  their  “operation.”  while  w'e  did.  One 
might  well  be  excused  if  he  should  “lose  his 
head”  when  the  executioner’s  sword  fell  upon 
it,  but  this  man  kept  his  and  as  he  rolled  down 
the  slope  he  decided  to  play  his  part  and  so 
lay  still  until  the  soldiers  had  left.  Then  he 


Ward  in  Confucian  Temple — Emergency  Hospital  for  Southern  Soldiers.  Misses  Hoy 

and  Firor  as  Nurses. 


Faced  the  Terrors  of  War. 


33 


crawled  to  a hut,  got  some  chicken  feathers 
and  stuffed  the  great  gaping  wound  at  the 
back  of  his  neck  so  securely  with  them  that  it 
took  several  days’  soaking  after  he  finally 
reached  the  Hospital  to  loosen  up  the  mass 
before  suturing  his  head  back  into  the  normal 
condition. 

One  night  we  had  a batch  of  15  mangled 
soldiers  brought  in  by  train,  from  a railway 
accident,  and  we  had  seven  amputations  to  do 
before  morning.  One  man  had  one  leg  left ; 
the  other  one,  one  hand  and  the  other  arm  at 
the  shoulder  had  to  be  taken  off.  He  lived  for 
a long  time,  in  spite  of  a very  severe  attack  of 
malaria,  but  died  suddenly.  One  man  was  shot 
while  lying  down.  The  bullet  entered  above 
the  cheek  bone,  went  down  his  neck,  through 
the  chest,  and  out  by  the  spine  at  the  lower 
part  of  the  back.  He  asked  me  if  he  would 
recover,  and  said  he  would  go  at  them  again 
if  he  did.  He  made  a splendid  recovery. 

We  were  very  fortunate  indeed  in  having  Dr. 
Beam  out  here  to  help.  Of  course  it  was  hard 
on  him  and  his  family  to  arrive  in  China  and 
find  such  trouble  already  started.  We  had  a 
boatload  of  soldiers  with  loaded  rifles  pointing 
them  at  us  and  stopping  our  launch  on  the  way 
up  from  the  port,  when  they  came  out;,  and 
since  then  it  has  been  coming  thick  and  fast, 
and  Mrs.  Beam  and  the  family  had  to  leave, 
with  the  other  ladies,  for  Ruling,  and  were 
taken  down  to  Hankow  on  the  American  gun- 
boat. They  thus  escaped  the  bombardment  of 
the  town  by  the  Chinese  gunboats  when  the 
northerners  came  back.  And  now,  when  there 
is  a lull  in  the  fighting,  the  terrible  pneumonic 
plague  is  creeping  up  the  river,  from  port  to 
port,  and  may  be  on  us  here  before  longl 

We  were  also  very  fortunate  in  having  Dr. 
Young  come  down  from  Changsha  to  help  us 
just  before  the  South  captured  the  city.  Dr. 
Young  is  a Chinese  who  lived  in  America  and 
studied  there  and  now  has  a hospital  of  his  own 
in  Changsha,  but  came  down  to  help  the  Red 


34 


Our  Mission  in  China. 


Some  of  the  Children  who  found  refuge 
in  the  Mat  Houses  put  up  in  our 
Mission  Compound  for  their  safety. 


Faced  the  Terrors  of  War. 


35 


Cross  here.  We  are  deeply  grateful  to  our 
Heavenly  Father  for  sending  us  help  “exceed- 
ing abundant,  above  what  we  asked  or  thought,’” 
and  for  all  His  wonderful  mercies,  and  best 
of  all  His  Presence  with  us  “all  the  days." 
And  He  who  has  kept,  will  keep,  and  we  are 
safe  and  happy  in  His  keeping.  May  He  use 
us  all  continually  to  accomplish  the  purpose  He 
has  in  view  for  us. 


STUDENTS  BURYING  THE  DEAD. 

Rev.  Edwin  A.  Beck. 

The  story  of  the  work  and  experiences 
in  our  hospitals  would  fill  pages. 
In  our  Mission  Hospital  there  are 
patients  everywhere,  even  lying  about 
on  the  floors.  The  Wen  Miao  and  a por- 
tion of  the  Changsha  Guild  Hall  have  been 
converted  into  emergency  hospitals  and  are 
being  rapidly  filled  up  with  patients.  Dr. 
Adams,  Dr.  Beam  and  three  Chinese  doc- 
tors; Misses  Traub  and  Myers  as  chief  nurses, 
together  with  a lot  of  Chinese  nurses;  also 
Misses  Ammerman,  Hoy  and  Firor,  have  been 
trying  to  cope  with  the  situation.  Wednesday 
and  Thursday  squads  of  the  Lakeside  Red 
Cross  boys  have  been  out  burying  the  dead 
who  are  lying  about  the  streets  and  the  nearer 
hills.  It  is  noteworthy  that  our  Lakeside  Red 
Cross  boys  who  have  been  on  various  battle 
fields  and  have  been  under  fire  several  times, 
as  well  as  those  who  spent  themselves  so 
freely  fighting  the  fire,  have  all  reported  safe, 
and  groups  of  them  are  still  working  as  inti- 
mated above,  searching  and  burying  the  dead. 

OUR  MISSIONARIES  FIRED  AT. 

Mrs.  J.  W.  Owen. 

WELL,  on  and  off  for  many  months 
now,  all  kinds  of  rumors  have 
been  current  and  north  and  south 
China  have  been  in  a ferment  and 
the  climax  came  to  Changsha,  Ichang  and 


Railway  Terminal  at  Lakeside. 


Faced  the  Terrors  of  IVar. 


37 


Yochow.  The  southerners  captured  our  cit> 
about  a month  ago,  and  the  northerners  before 
leaving  it  looted  and  set  fire  to  the  city  and 
what  was  left  the  southerners  finished.  Oh  it 
was  terrible!  Yochow  is  practically  wipecf  out. 
Mr.  Owen  trained  a squad  of  students  for 
Red  Cross  work  and  he  and  the  squads  and 
others  in  the  city  tried  to  quell  the  fire  but  were 
told  they  would  be  shot  if  they  tried  any 
such  thing.  They  went  on  in  spite  of  the  bul- 
lets and  turned  the  fire  from  our  building 
and  they  stand  as  a monument  of  God’s  sav- 
ing grace.  Here  in  Lakeside  William  Reimert 
and  I were  fired  on  by  a retreating  northerner 
and  had  a narrow  escape.  Dr.  Hoy  went  to 
town  to  see  Gertrude  and  had  bullets  whizzing 
all  around  him.  My  husband  was  out  at  Lin- 
chang  with  the  squad  previous  to  the  capture 
of  Yochow  and  for  two  hours  they  were  under 
fire.  They  respect  no  flag  on  any  boat.  Steam- 
ers have  been  fired  and  lives  lost. 

ALL  OUR  WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN  FLED. 

Miss  Marion  P.  Firor. 

The  past  week  the  southerners  con- 
tinued to  lose,  the  northerners  kept 
coming  nearer  and  nearer.  Every 
day  wounded  southerners  were  brought 
in,  some  put  in  the  Military  Hospitals, 
some  in  the  Red  Cross  and  our  own 
foreign  hospital  stacked  full.  On  Saturday 
about  midnight  came  a telegram  from  the 
Custom’s  Port  of  Yochow  informing  us  that 
an  American  gunboat  had  arrived  to  take 
“women  and  children.”  We  took  it  for  granted 
that  it  referred  to  the  women  with  children. 
Early  Sunday  morning  two  of  our  men  went 
down  to  interview  the  captain,  and  brought 
back  the  word  that  all  were  requested  to  go. 
We  girls,  nurses  and  teachers,  refused  to  go 
unless  ordered  out  and  signed  a paper  ab- 
solving him  from  all  responsibility  for  our 
safety.  The  reply  to  this  did  not  come  till 
seven  o’clock  and  said  that  we  must  come. 


A Portion  of  the  Ruins  of  the  Business  District,  Yochow. 


Faced  the  Terrors  of  War. 


39 


So  we  stayed  up  all  night  and  packed.  Each 
one  was  allowed  a small  trunk  and  suit  case. 
The  captain  later  explained  his  position,  and 
we  can  clearly  see  his  point  of  view,  but  it  was 
so  hard  to  leave.  We  left  in  the  dark  at  5 A.  M., 
coolies  carrying  lanterns  and  baggage,  and 
when  we  reached  the  shore  the  row  boats  had 
to  be  bailed  out;  just  as  soon  as  we  were  on 
the  gunboat  it  sailed  a little  after  6.30. 

So  here  we  are  in  the  U.  S.  Gunboat  “Mon- 
ocacy”  on  the  way  to  Hankow  where  we  take 
a steamer  for  Kiukiang  to  go  to  Hankow. 
We  have  passed  many  boat  loads  of  northern 
soldiers  going  southward,  and  at  one  time  saw 
a whole  company  marching  single  file  along 
the  river  bank.  On  March  20th,  word  came 
that  the  southerners  had  been  defeated  at 
Yochow  and  had  burned  everything  that  was 
left  of  the  city  as  they  retreated;  also,  that 
the  foreigners  were  safe.  We  take  for  granted 
that  our  compound  was  not  burned. 

THE  PRESENT  SITUATION  IS 
THREATENING. 

Rev.  William  A.  Reimert. 

Mr.  beck  and  other  members  of  the 
Mission  will  have  informed  you  about 
the  Yochow  situation.  Everything  is 
quiet  for  the  present.  The  northern 
army  is  determined  to  take  Yochow  and 
Changsha  again ; in  which  case  the  women  and 
children,  at  least,  will  have  to  leave,  because 
neither  life  nor  property  will  be  safe  if  the 
southern  army  will  have  to  retreat.  In  fact  the 
present  situation  is  so  threatening  that  we  are 
contemplating  sending  them  away  immediately. 
The  trouble  is  where  to  send  them.  During 
the  present  turmoil,  Shanghai  seems  the  only 
safe  place,  but  Shanghai  at  present  is  infested 
with  a serious  epidemic  of  small  pox  and 
scarlet  fever,  and  would  be  a very  unsafe 
place  for  children.  We  will  have  a meeting 
to-day  to  decide  what  is  to  be  done. 


40 


Our  Mission  in  China. 


Ruins  of  Our  Main  Street  Chapel,  Yochow. 


Faced  the  Terrors  of  I'l^ar. 


41 


MADE  THEIR  ESCAPE  AMID  PAINFUL 
DIFFICULTIES. 

Mrs.  William  A.  Betmert. 

YOU  can  be  thankful  that  you  are  out 
of  all  the  exciting  times  we  are  hav- 
ing here  at  Yochow.  The  northern 
soldiers  are  expected  back  again,  and 
they  are  determined  to  take  the  city,  so 
the  Consul  advised  women  and  children 
to  leave.  I do  not  like  to  leave  and  1 
do  not  think  I would  if  it  were  not  for 
Marguerite.  We  went  to  the  port  last  Satur- 
day and  expected  to  take  a Japanese  steamer 
which  was  expected  to  leave  early  Sunday 
morning.  It  never  got  in  till  8 o’clock  Sun- 
day evening,  and  then  they  were  so  full  of  pas- 
sengers that  they  refused  to  take  us  so  we 
had  to  stay  another  night  and  come  back  in 
the  morning.  I must  tell  you  about  our  trip 
to  the  port  on  Saturday.  We  left  Lakeside, 
at  noon  on  a big  red  boat.  We  stopped  in 
town  for  the  rest  of  the  folks,  but  they  were 
not  ready  to  go  with  us,  only  their  baggage, 
just  a short  distance  out  from  Yochow  the 
boat  struck  a rock,  but  no  one  seemed  to 
think  much  of  it  till  we  noticed  the  water  in 
the  part  where  the  beds  are  and  found  the  bot- 
tom was  full  of  water  and  the  things  that 
were  under  the  beds  were  all  wet.  The  water 
ran  out  of  the  boxes  and  trunks  when  they 
pulled  them  out.  We  were  just  sick  over  it. 
.“MI  the  boats  going  up  and  down  the  river  are 
fired  on  so  we  do  not  know  what  one  will 
get  into  yet,  but  our  trust  is  in  Him  who 
careth  for  His  own. 

PACKED  IN  THE  BOAT  LIKE  SARDINES. 
Mrs.  Edwin  A.  Beck. 

The  Commissioner  of  Customs  very 
kindly  took  us  in  and  we  waited  till 
Tuesday,  when  a Japanese  steamer 
came  into  port  convoyed  by  a good- 
sized  gunboat.  Talk  about  being  packed  in 


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from  the  fleeing  Northerners. 


Faced  the  Terr  ore  of  IV  ar. 


43 


like  sardines.  That  boat  was  packed  bet- 
ter than  a sardine  tin.  We  could  hardly 
get  aboard  and  had  great  difficulty  getting  our 
baggage  on  board.  The  first  class  saloon  was 
filled  and  five  Japanese  and  two  Qiinese  fiad 
no  cabins,  so  the  Becks  shared  the  saloon 
with  them.  We  spread  our  beds  on  the  settees 
and  the  children  slept,  but  between  the  cigarette 
smoke  and  fear  of  rolling  off  on  the  floor 
I did  not  sleep  any.  Our  dear  old  Chinese 
nurse  sat  by  the  side  of  the  twins  all  night 
and  kept  them  in  bed.  The  boat  did  not  leave 
till  daylight,  as  the  most  dangerous  place  was 
just  three  hours  below  the  port. 


GETTING  BACK  TO  YOCHOW  CITY. 

That  our  missionaries  in  China  are  no 
slackers  is  seen  from  the  way  they  have 
faced  dangers  to  get  back  to  the  work. 
Dr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Beck  made  their 
return  from  Ruling  amid  the  burst  of  shells 
over  the  fighting  armies.  They  arrived  at 
Yochow  City  just  in  time  to  see  the  Hunan 
portion  of  the  southern  army  on  its  way  back 
to  Changsha  after  its  defeat  in  the  region  of 
Lin  Hsiang,  where  we  have  an  out  station  and 
a day  school.  This  was  the  end  of  the  with- 
drawal of  southern  troops  from  that  region, 
the  general  blew  up  his  headquarters  and  got 
away,  turning  over  stores  of  rice,  etc.,  to  Mr. 
Heinridisohn  for  Red  Cross  work.  The  re- 
treat had  put  the  people  of  the  city  into  a 
panic,  they  fled  for  refuge,  ten  thousand  of 
them,  to  our  compound  where  they  found 
shelter  and  food. 

Mr.  Beck  writes,  in  their  trepidation,  mem- 
bers of  families  got  separated  and  lost.  One 
young  mother  came  here  hunting  for  her  eight 
months’  old  baby  girl.  A baby  boy  of  about 
that  age  was  picked  up  along  the  railroad  and 
carried  to  the  Mission  compound  in  Yochow. 
A foster  mother  was  found  for  it,  while  proc- 
lamations were  put  out  for  the  recovery  of 
the  mother.  It  was  a common  sight  to  see 


Lakeside  from  the  East — showing  Recitation  Hall  and  Dining  Room — Gymnasium,  destroyed 
by  fire  (right),  House  occupied  by  Dr.  Hoy’s  family  and  Mr.  Beck’s 
family  (left).  Gate  House  and  M'otnen’s  Chapel  (forefront) . 


Faced  the  Terrors  of  War. 


45 


mothers  dragging  children  by  the  hand;  fath- 
ers carrying  pole  and  baskets, — a baby  in  one 
basket,  and  rice  in  the  other ; chasing  the  fam- 
ily ox  with  the  family  bedding  on  its  back. 

In  a letter  from  Mr.  Reimert  he  sends  the 
< heerful  news  that  all  the  ladies  are  back  again 
in  YochoWj.  and  that  quiet  reigns  in  the  city. 
Let  the  voice  of  thanksgiving  be  heard  in  all 
churches  that  the  Lord  has  so  graciously  pre- 
served the  lives  of  all  our  missionaries. 


FIRE  DESTROYS  BUILDING  AT  LAKE- 
SIDE. 

Dear  Dr.  Bartholomew : — 

It  is  with  a sad  heart  that  I write  you  the 
fact  of  the  loss  by  fire  of  the  dining-room  and 
gymnasium  of  the  Lakeside  Schools.  This  un- 
fortunate event  took  place  last  night  between 
12  and  1.30.  The  fire  started  in  the  basement, 
where  during  the  last  three  weeks  carpenters 
have  been  working  on  100  desks  to  replace 
those  that  were  lost  when  Yodiow  City  was 
looted  and  burned.  When  the  fire  was  dis- 
covered the  flames  had  made  too  much  headway 
for  us  to  fight  them.  We  could  only  address 
ourselves  to  the  protection  of  the  adjacent 
buildings.  At  one  time  it  was  feared  that  the 
large  Recitation  Hall  and  my  residence  must 
be  lost,  too;  but  we  were  spared  this  loss.  The 
building  was  insured  for  taels  2500.  We  may 
experience  some  diff.culty  in  obtaining  this,  as, 
no  doubt,  the  men  were  careless  in  smoking 
before  they  left  yesterday.  The  fire  must  have 
been  smoldering  a long  time  before  the  out- 

William  E.  Hoy. 


Note. — Boys  are  now  eating  in  the  passage- 
ways of  the  Hoffman  Hall  Dormitory.  It  is 
hoped  that  we  shall  get  insurance,  so  that  the 
building  can  be  restored. 


46 


Our  Mission  in  China. 


A Challenge  to  the  Church  for  Help. 

After  reading  this  tragic  story  of  the 
loss  of  life  and  property  by  the 
Chinese  at  Yochow  City,  and  remem- 
bering that  the  lives  of  our  missionaries  and 
most  of  our  property  was  saved,  is  it  not 
fitting  that  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 
in  the  name  of  our  China  Mission,  should 
make  an  appeal  to  our  liberal-minded  and 
warm-hearted  members  for  extra  gifts  to 
help  pay  for  the  unusual  expenses  that  we 
will  be  subject  to  on  account  of  the  rebellion 
in  Hunan? 

At  the  recent  meeting  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  the  Secretary  was  instructed  to 
prepare  this  Booklet,  and  to  appeal  to  our 
pastors  and  people  for  a Yochow  Relief 
Fund  of  Fifty  Thousand  Dollars  to  meet  the 
present  emergency  in  China. 

In  order  to  rebuild  the  Main  Street  Chapel 
and  the  Day  School  in  Yochow  City,  the 
Dining  Hall  and  Gymnasium  at  Lakeside, 
to  pay  for  the  care  of  the  wounded  soldiers 
in  the  hospital,  the  enforced  flight  of  our 
missionaries  to  Ruling,  and  many  other  ex- 
penses, not  to  speak  of  the  alarming  loss  by 
exchange,  it  is  certain  that  the  Board  will 
need,  at  least,  an  additional  Fifty  Thousand 
Dollars  during  the  year  1918. 

If  we  fail  to  provide  this  fund  now  it  only 
means  to  add  to  the  deficit.  Surely  we  can 
do  as  well  as  other  denominations,  who  are 
avoiding  deficits  by  larger  giving. 

Send  your  contributions  to  the  Secretary, 
Rev.  Allen  R.  Bartholomew,  Fifteenth  and 
Race  streets,  Philadelphia. 


PLEASE  USE  THIS  BLANK.  DETACH  AT  DOTTRn  LINES 


lOrd  may  bless  the  work  and  the  workers. 


48 


Our  Mission  in  China. 


Our  Missionary  Staff  in  China. 


The  work  of  our  missionaries  is  not 
one  that  can  be  taken  up  and  laid  down 
at  their  pleasure.  They  must  labor  on  or 
else  the  work  will  suffer.  They  cannot 
take  a vacation  when  they  feel  like  it, 
nor  return  to  their  homes  when  home- 
sickness overtakes  them.  Think  of  them 
in  their  trials.  Rejoice  with  them  in 
their  successes.  Pray  for  them  at  all 
times. 


Date  of  „ . . 

Arfivol,  Matne.  Residence. 

1900.  Rev.  William  E.  Hoy,  D.  D.,  and  wife, 

Yochow  City 

1902.  Rev.  William  A.  Reimert  and  wife, 

Yochow  City 


1905.  Rev.  Paul  E.  Keller  anl  wife Changsha 

1906.  Rev.  J.  Frank  Bucher  and  wife Shenchowfu 

1906.  Prof.  Horace  R.  Lequear  and  wife, 

Yochow  City 

1906.  Rev.  Edwin  A.  Beck  and  wife.  ..  .Yochow  City 
1908.  Miss  Alice  E.  Traub Yochow  City 

1908  Rev.  F.  Karl  Heinrichsohn  and  wife, 

Yochow  City 

1908.  Drt  William  F.  Adams  and  wife.  . .Yochow  City 

1910.  Miss  Rebecca  N.  Messimer Shenchowfu 

1911.  Rev.  Ward  Hartman  and  wife Shenchowfu 

1913.  Dr.  Lewis  R.  Thompson  and  wife.  . Shenchowfu 

1913.  Miss  Gertrude  B.  Hoy Yochow  City 

1914.  Miss  Helen  B.  Ammerman Yochow  City 

1914.  Miss  Mary  Edna  Meyers Yochow  City 

1914.  Miss  Elizabeth  J.  Miller Shenchowfu 

1914.  Prof.  Karl  H.  Beck  and  wife Shenchowfu 

1916.  Miss  Marion  P.  Firor Yochow  City 

1916.  Rev.  J.  W.  Owen  and  wife Shenchowfu 

1917.  Miss  Esther  J.  Sellemeyer Shenchowfu 

1917.  Miss  Minerva  Stout  Weil Shenchowfu 

1917.  Mr.  George  Bachman Yochow  City 

1917.  Dr.  J.  Albert  Beam  and  wife Yochow  City 


